Signature Financial LLC, the wholly owned specialty finance subsidiary of New York-based Signature Bank, announced the appointment of seven equipment finance Executive Sales Officers (ESOs), bringing the total to 33 throughout the country. The company also announced the addition of two asset management officers in support of its growth initiatives.

An equipment ESO is responsible for providing commercial clients financing and leasing solutions to facilitate their acquisition of income producing equipment.

• Alfredo Anguiano joins Signature Financial from Wells Fargo Equipment Finance where he served as Senior Vice President–Food, Beverage and Agribusiness, originating related transactions throughout the West Coast. Anguiano, based in Los Angeles, will be working directly with Signature Bank’s private client banking teams on the West Coast, supporting their respective clients as well as sourcing new relationships. With more than two decades of finance experience, previously Anguiano was a relationship manager at several other institutions including U.S. Bank and GE Capital Corp.
• Scott Armitage, based in Boise, ID, will originate relationships in the greater Western Mountain region for Signature Financial. Armitage comes to Signature Financial following his tenure at First Interstate Bank in Boise, where he spent five years in roles of increasing responsibilities across the bank’s various Idaho locations. Most recently, he was Assistant Commercial Relationship Manager handling regional mid-market accounts.
• Before joining Signature Financial, Thomas Austin, a seasoned finance professional with 35 years of experience, was Vice President, Regional Sales Manager in the Equipment Financing Division at Ameris Bank. Focused primarily on the construction equipment market, Austin was responsible for equipment financing business development with direct lending and dealer-sourced relationships to generate organic growth through this division. Other related roles include those at, among others, Caterpillar Financial Services Corp. and GE Capital. Austin will complement Signature Financial’s existing Southeast region ESOs from his Orlando, FL, base.
• Michael Luke joins from Sterling National Bank’s Equipment Finance Division in New York City, where he served as Managing Director for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region, responsible for business development in the construction and transportation sectors throughout greater New York City metro and mid-Atlantic areas. Luke will cater to Signature Bank clients as well as independently developed relationships. Earlier in his 25-year career, he held specialty finance-related roles at JP Morgan Equipment Finance and Key Equipment Finance. Luke works from offices in Greenwich, CT.
• An equipment finance professional with a generalist background in the specialty finance industry and more than a decade of experience, Andrew Pennline joins from Wells Fargo Equipment Finance. He was an account manager, originating equipment loans and leases as well as managing a territory team. Other equipment leasing roles were those held at Net Health, Inc., Komatsu Mining and the Reznick Group, P.C. Pennline will use his Pittsburgh, PA, home base to cover the greater western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio regions for Signature Financial.
• Thomas Prendergast is an equipment finance veteran with 38 years of experience in the space. Prior to joining Signature Financial, Prendergast was Vice President at Fifth Third Equipment Finance, responsible for business development, mostly within the manufacturing, agricultural, transportation and construction industries. Former roles include, along with others, those at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc. and U.S. Bancorp Leasing & Financial. Prendergast, based in the Chicago metro market, provides additional client coverage for Signature Financial in the Midwest region.
• Prior to joining Signature Financial, industry veteran Scott Stromquist, based in Nashville, TN, held the position of sales support manager at Caterpillar Financial in Nashville. He managed a sales support team providing equipment financing for 20 Caterpillar dealers, spending more than a decade of his career at the company. In addition to Caterpillar Nashville, he served in management roles at Caterpillar in Peoria, IL and San Antonio, TX. Stromquist will continue to leverage the relationships he has forged over the course of his construction finance career.

Signature Financial also appointed two asset management professionals, Kelly Lane and Tim Pedersen, to support the continuing growth of its direct equipment origination avenues as well as Signature Financial’s other specialty businesses, including its Intermediary Funding and Capital Markets equipment channels, transportation funding, franchise finance and commercial marine lending.

• Lane, a senior equipment finance professional with 22 years of equipment finance and asset management experience, has been named Vice President, Asset Management and is based at Signature Financial offices in Melville, NY as well as in Brookfield, CT. Most recently, Lane was Senior Vice President Equipment Management at Santander Bank Equipment Finance, where he managed the valuation, risk mitigation and profitability for the group’s multibillion dollar portfolio of financed and leased assets. Over the course of his 20+-year career, Lane served in analyst, underwriting, portfolio management and equipment finance roles at a range of finance companies, including CIT Equipment Finance, Somerset Capital Group and GE Capital.
• Pedersen, who was named Asset Management Officer, spent 30 years in the leasing and financial services industries, with emphasis on portfolio management, underwriting, capital markets and asset management. At Craig & Associates headquartered in Deer Park, MD, his most recent position, he provided equipment evaluations for portfolio acquisitions and individual lease financings. Earlier, he was Co-founder and Managing Director at Rockwell Financial Group, LLC, a middle-market lender. Other positions include those at Southern Pacific BanCapital, where he established the leasing division and Capital Associates, with several roles of increasing responsibility spanning a 10 year-period. Pedersen is based in Boulder, CO.

“Signature Financial continues to identify and attract talent nationwide, which has contributed to our growth to $5+ billion in assets. Professionals such as these are the reason Signature Financial has emerged as the 15th largest bank-based lender in the specialty equipment finance space, a position we secured in just nine years since the launch of our subsidiary at Signature Bank,” said Walter Rabin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Financial.

“Akin to Signature Bank’s founding single-point-of-contact philosophy and relationship-based model, where we attract veteran bankers who join as teams, Signature Financial is further cementing its similar relationship-based approach through these appointments. These newly appointed client-facing professionals each bring extensive, specialized knowledge of the equipment finance niche, which will further strengthen Signature Financial’s national market penetration and reputation. We look forward to the contributions our new colleagues will make to the ongoing growth of the specialty finance business,” noted Joseph J. DePaolo, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Bank.